It's not often---okay, first time---I get featured in a web tv video, so I thought I'd share it with friends and acquaintances here. It's a Foodable Web TV video about the Golden State of Cocktails in Los Angeles. I show up in substance at the 5:08 mark (but the whole thing is pretty interesting and not too long).

Victor, I believe it was marketed to the trade. Of course, in events of this sort, even if it's not public, a lot of the public gets in through association.

It was pretty well attended overall, I thought. I got to work with some high grade bartenders in the different events, as well as talk to even more on the other side of the table. Even better, we all got to get hand's on involved.

The Cognac and Food Pairing concept is still fairly novel to the spirits crowd, and coordinating it with the most excellent Cognac Aroma Wheel worked out beautifully. The Immersion was a great chance to lead people simultaneously through a journey of terroir and maturation. And the cocktail creation was immense fun for everyone---but with a very real purpose. I hope to do more events of this type for Experience Cognac! in future.

Okay, so I just watched this--as they say in the biz, the camera likes you!

I have some questions, though. Is the caviar lime they were talking about the same fruit known as finger lime? And, those glasses you used for your tasting pours really surprised me. I'm sure they're convenient to packing/washing/taking places for big tastings, but do they do the aromatics in the cognacs any favors? (I'll admit to cringing when I'm at someone's house and they want to serve sauternes and ports in those tiny liqueur glasses.)

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

First question, yeah, I think they're the same limes. So 'caviar' is a bit of a misnomer, for the attention.

Second, when you go to Cognac you get your cognac served in similar glasses---somewhat more like a sherry copita glass actually---but these were the closest we had. What you almost never get, especially when you're with the cognacais, is the snifter/ballon glasses.

The smaller glass allows plenty of intensity of aroma to volatize from the glass and gives you...let's say a 'focused' nose...rather than this enormous pillow of aromatics that is just the alcohol vapors pushing the aromas out profusely. Guess it's a question of where you want that expensive cognac essence...in the air, or in your nose, mouth, and post-nasal passages where it has the effect?

Admittedly some people like the almost grotesque ballon glass, but that's mostly the older folk now (I count myself as younger folk because I only look like the ancient of days but I'm really hip and au courant. ) who were marketed to that way. And yeah, I know, there's a physical thrill you can get at the idea of cupping the glass to warm it and lazily swirling it around...but now, to me, that just dissipates the intensity of the cognac that I get.

Hoke wrote:First question, yeah, I think they're the same limes. So 'caviar' is a bit of a misnomer, for the attention.

Second, when you go to Cognac you get your cognac served in similar glasses---somewhat more like a sherry copita glass actually---but these were the closest we had. What you almost never get, especially when you're with the cognacais, is the snifter/ballon glasses.

The smaller glass allows plenty of intensity of aroma to volatize from the glass and gives you...let's say a 'focused' nose...rather than this enormous pillow of aromatics that is just the alcohol vapors pushing the aromas out profusely. Guess it's a question of where you want that expensive cognac essence...in the air, or in your nose, mouth, and post-nasal passages where it has the effect?

Admittedly some people like the almost grotesque ballon glass, but that's mostly the older folk now (I count myself as younger folk because I only look like the ancient of days but I'm really hip and au courant. ) who were marketed to that way. And yeah, I know, there's a physical thrill you can get at the idea of cupping the glass to warm it and lazily swirling it around...but now, to me, that just dissipates the intensity of the cognac that I get.

And thanks for the kind words.

Okay, that makes sense. I had no idea about the origins of the brandy ballon. I have some Waterfords that are beautiful and indeed great to hold, but for myself, the best cognac drinker in my little cupboard is a small version of the big ballon whose bowl is only about 2" around/up/across--it's also cut crystal and I've only ever had one so god knows where I got it, but I like it because I don't like the overwelming alcohol fumes in the nose from the big glass.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Interesting video, Hoke. You did a great job. I wanted to be there tasting the coffee, caramel, clove, crushed vanilla pods, etc. myself. I did get to do some Calvados tasting in Normandy last September.

Hoke,It would look quite funny, if I stick my finger or “uncut” cigar tip into a “dainty-looking” tulip cognac glass and dabbed the liquid on the back of my hand to smell it and lick it (usually I don’t lick it).

Tom N.: Hey, I didn't sign up either. I like to control my email inbox too.

Victor: I think it would be de rigeur for robusto smokers to use the ballon.

Jenise: I still like the heavy solidity and faceted texture and reassuring heft of a cut crystal glass myself. No balloons though; all we have left in the cut crystal is some small liqueur Waterfords, some Lennox flutes and some Waterford lowball glasses.

Mike Filigenzi wrote:You're a natural for this, Hoke! (But I knew that already.)

Looks like it was a really good event.

It was, Mike! This time they asked for my input, and it all worked well. What you saw was Day 2 of 3. The next day we had Cocktails with Cognac, where we had bars set up, put everyone in teams and then had them design a cocktail based on the Aroma Wheel concept. Worked like a charm, they had loads of fun, and we got some really nifty cocktails out of it.

How did the aroma wheel fit into this? Were different cognacs "placed" on the aroma wheel based on flavor and aromatic characteristics or was the idea to take several ingredients that covered different areas of the aroma wheel to put together a cocktail? (Or was it something else entirely?)

Mike Filigenzi wrote:How did the aroma wheel fit into this? Were different cognacs "placed" on the aroma wheel based on flavor and aromatic characteristics or was the idea to take several ingredients that covered different areas of the aroma wheel to put together a cocktail? (Or was it something else entirely?)

Day 1: Cognac Aroma Wheel (built into the "seasons" of cognac...fruit, flowers/floral, dried fruit, herbs, spices, savory, rancio/full maturity, tobacco, chocolate, etc.) Arranged an assortment of food bites to echo the aroma wheel and selected four specific cognacs to reflect the progression of the "seasons" with the food bites. Tasted/compared and looked for resonances between the cognac, the maturity levels, and the foods. Example: Fresh fruit (peach) with the young, fruit-fresh cognacs; but with the more mature cognacs, dried apricot. Another example: the spice doesn't really start kicking in to cognac until after some moderate oak aging; until then, it's fruit and floral primarily; so we taste the spice (cinnamon, let's say) with a young, a medium, and a fully matured cognac...and they taste for themselves.

Day 2: Cognac Immersion---with the Aroma Wheel around, as well as the basic map of crus. First three: VS from GC, PC and Borderies; Second Three: VSOP from GC, FC, Borderies; Third Three: Fully mature individual house expressions up to 15 years old. Again, work around the aroma wheel as you taste. Explicate the similarities of the cru as they age, but emphasize the effect of maturity at the same time. Then let them free taste. Finally, turn them over to a bartender to make four cocktails (with cognacs I've chosen to fit the aroma wheel.)

Day 3: Put the people in teams at bar tables. Place cognacs all around, along with Aroma Wheels, and selected mixers and liqueurs (Chartreuse, Violette, Averna Amaro, lime juice, lemon juice, etc.) and challenge them to pick a cognac and build a drink around it....using the Aroma Wheel as a guide.

And it all worked even better than I had hoped it would. And I had high hopes.